In the past, children in Swaziland were cared for by their extended family—there were no orphaned or abandoned children everyone had an uncle or aunt, cousin or grandparent who would care for them.

This has seen a major change with the onset of HIV/AIDS, because the key providers within communities are also the most vulnerable to infection. Extended families now have to absorb an ever-increasing number of children. There are now many family-units within the country that are headed by a young teenager, who is forced to drop out of school and seek some form of employment to sustain the livelihood of the younger ones. Babies are abandoned in rubbish bins, in hospital cribs and on buses, increasingly, as mothers are overwhelmed economically, socially, and physically. Many choose to “give the child a chance to live” by abandoning the child, in hope that someone, somewhere, may have mercy on their baby.

Primary school children are now dropping out of school due to lack of education funds within the family network, and once they reach the age of 7 or 8, many are forced to leave their grandparents homestead in order to make a room for even younger children who have lost their parents. These new street-children must find a way to survive in urban areas where they become victims of rape, sodomy, human sacrificial rituals, drug addiction, crime and violence.

The New Hope Centre in Manzini has been brought into existence to provide for the needs of children within the Swazi nation. In the future, the Centre will also offer training for new foster parents who offer their homes as mini-orphanages. The training will deal with the special needs of loss, abandonment, and bereavement that these children face. Our desire is to provide care for the orphaned, homeless and abandoned children who are victims of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The home will be a permanent residence for children between the ages of two and fourteen. A second home will serve as a residence for teenagers up to high school graduation.

The home serves as a model for other orphanages which will be opened throughout the nation, as finances become available.